


Legends of the West

by Rogue_Warden



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Action/Adventure, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-05
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-05-24 23:19:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6170629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rogue_Warden/pseuds/Rogue_Warden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Four years after the events of Fallout 3, the Lone Wanderer leaves the Capitol Wasteland for the Mojave on Brotherhood orders. She expected it to be a quick mission, but she never expected to join the Courier on his hunt for revenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

I am the lone wanderer. Four years ago I changed the world. I brought clean water to a dirty wasteland.

Four years ago my legacy started. This legacy has been told around campfires and to get children to sleep since i stepped out of the vault. I have lived up to the name my father gave me. Hope. I brought hope with me and gave it out wherever I went. I am the Lone Wander. And this is my story.

Everyone knows about my quest to find my father and activate the purifier, so instead I will tell you what happened after.

After activating the purifier, I continued wandering. This brought me to places like the Pitt, Maryland, into a pre-war combat simulator of Operation: Anchorage, and even to a spaceship full of aliens.

Each adventure I went on took its toll on me, both physically and mentally. After Pittsburg I had panic attacks that I didn't know how to deal with and had trouble sleeping for a few months. When I got back from Maryland I had a nasty scar running along the side of my head because some asshole decided to take a piece of my brain out. I kept it and have it in a jar on top of my infirmary.

After I got off Mothership Zeta I was in shock and really unnerved from being in space and looking down on earth with a whole new perspective, and meeting people from ages lost in time. Not to mention killing aliens and stealing their technology

I uploaded tons of info on all sorts of stuff on a holodisk that I gave to the Brotherhood. I was always fairly good with science so I helped file through and make some prototype weapons, armor, new medical supplies, and upgrades for Liberty Prime and the vertibirds.

I helped make what we call "light power armor" or "LPA". It's mostly just interlocking plates of thick, ablative ceramic plates. It was designed to be light, effective, comfortable, and easily repaired. After it was finished it was given to me to test and make sure that if I got shot I wouldn't feel it and could continue fighting. It worked wonders and I got myself a new set of armor that was as comfortable as leather and stronger than my old T-51b. I felt like a little tank and I loved it.

Along with the alien technology from Zeta, I had acquired a Chinese Stealth Suit from the Outcasts vault I opened after completing Operation: Anchorage. I let the Brotherhood borrow it so they could see how the pre-war suit worked. It was slightly different than Stealth Boys, it remained active until you turned it off whereas a Stealth Boy was timed. After finding how the stealth shields could remain active for so long they harnessed the power and using what little resources they had, they were able to put the stealth shields on commando armor and even a couple vertibirds.

We found a way to upgrade the vertibirds to be faster and more efficient. We called it the VTOLbird, VTOL stands for vertical take off and landing. Under all the firewalls in the alien files we found schematics for this new aircraft. Unlike the vertibird, it used engines rather than the propeller on top. It could take off and land like a Vertibird but once your in air you can change the engines angle and it becomes like a jet. The engineers were only able to make one due to the lack of supplies and most of the good parts were going onto Liberty Prime, but they came through with one working VTOLbird. After adding the stealth software it was complete.

After they had figured out most of the extraterrestrials secrets, Scribe Rothschild and Elder Lyons decided to share them with the other BoS outposts and scientists working at the Purifier.

They had sent regular vertibirds containing paladins and scribes with copies of the holodisk I made and more with the records and results of our tests and experiments.

They had gotten them to most of the outposts on the East Coast without a hitch but the ones in the West we're becoming problematic.

It was mostly just the Mojave outpost, the vertibirds getting shot down and the paladins killed. The Mojave was always a problem, going offline and losing communication with them was the first red flag.

We had no idea what happened or where they were, last we had heard from them they were at a power plant called HELIOS One.

They started sending out the information out around the middle of 2280 and by December of that year the Brotherhood was gaining more territory north and south of us, except the west. We were losing our land and becoming forgotten on the west coast.

I heard that the New California Republic was taking control and pushing us back and that there was another third party coming into play called the Legion. Apparently they were just some idiots with machetes and football gear that mostly sold slaves, hated women, and wore red. What they lacked in technique they made up for in numbers. Whatever, if a bullet can't get though my armor then I don't think the sharp sticks they fight with will either.

After still hearing only nothing from the Mojave for 5 months they began to worry and not having their troops come back was reason enough to send help.

While I'm a Brotherhood Paladin, and member of the Lyons Pride, I don't really consider myself a member. I don't follow most of their rules, I don't have to be there or follow Sarah's commands, I didn't go through recruitment or have to earn my rank or anything, but I will always help them out. It gets pretty boring in Megaton and they only call on me if there's a serious problem they can't do.

So when I got a memo from Rothschild requesting I go to the citadel I went as fast as I could. He told me he was sending me to the Mojave to look for the lost chapter, I said yes and he gave me a week to get my stuff and meet him back here where the stealth VTOLbird will be waiting.

I said bye to Butch and I let him use my house to stay in while he starts up his barber shop. I told him I probably won't be back for a long time but when I come back, my house better be in better condition than when I left. I trust him enough to believe him when he said he wouldn't touch anything but the bed and couch. I think I got my point across when I told him I programmed Mr Wadsworth to shoot him if he messes my shit up. I only lied a little.

I was surprised to hear that Elder Lyons wasn't sending Sarah with me but I guess he'd rather send someone like me into the unknown instead of his daughter. I'm going to miss Sarah, she's been my best friend for almost three and a half years, since I became a member of the Pride. I gave Fawkes the important mission of keeping her safe, he's always been a good friend, even tried to storm an Enclave base for me, he might have succeeded if I hadn't blown it up.

I won't forget the things my friends have done to help me, and I know the people here won't forget the things I have done for them. But I've done everything I can here, it's time to move on to the next chapter in the Tale of The Lone Wanderer.

So on to the Mojave and on to new adventures. I had thought it was just going to be, find the Brotherhood, Sort out shit with the Brotherhood, come home. That all changed when I met the courier. I didn't count on helping a man rise from the grave to the top of The Lucky 38 and take over New Vegas. Or that I might want to stay.


	2. Into The Mojave

The VTOLbird was around halfway through Arizona when the pilot activated the stealth field. The vertibirds that were sent before me weren't upgraded with the stealth field, that may have been one of the reasons why they were shot down. Sending the only VTOLbird into enemy territory probably wasn't the best idea but it was the only and the fastest way.

Of course the stealth shields only made us visually invisible, bending light rays and waves around us to appear invisible. It didn't mean that we were silent, you could hear us from at least 10 miles away and could most likely see a big shadow go over the ground but if you looked up the sun would block most of the visuals on us. And that we're virtually invisible helps with the whole problem with being killed we had before.

I expected the trip to take longer but I guess you can go pretty fast in a VTOLbird that has been upgraded with alien tech. We made the trip in just over three days, pretty good considering the time we spent refueling halfway and when we stopped outside a city to resupply food that was eaten when Dogmeat got into the rations bin.

Because we didn't know where the Brotherhood was hiding or where the exact location of HELIOS One was, the pilot didn't know where to land. We flew over a smattering of red tents, what looked like a large green statue with teeth, and to the north I saw a mountain with a huge satellite dish on top. According to the reports, this should be around where the Brotherhood was last seen. He kept flying until I saw a town with a roller coaster and saw flashes of light from what could only be gunshots and explosions lighting up the night.

Just past it we spotted a town, and I was ready to get out of the cramped aircraft so I told the pilot to set me down on the hill behind the town. You don't want to scare the folks living there by landing a UFO on their front lawns.

"Affirmative. Prepare for landing." He set us down gently and smoothly. Allowing Dogmeat and I to get off before he set off back east.

"Well, here we are." I muttered to Dogmeat, who just tilted his head and whined.

"Alright, well let's go down and rent a room at a hotel or something. No point in trying to search for the Brotherhood at 10:30 at night." At this point I was talking more to myself than Dogmeat who had decided to wander down the hill to chase after a giant mantis nymph that evaded his attacks and scurried under a house.

I made my way to the town and spotted a building called the Prospector Saloon, seemed like the place to go to for directions. If anything there was someone who could help me in there.

I entered and Dogmeat immediately became nose to nose with another dog. I'd never had this problem before so I didn't know if Dogmeat would attack or play, or if this new dog would attack or play.

Much to my relief they both started sniffing each other and wagging their tales.

"Hey, I'm Sunny Smiles, and it looks like you already met Cheyenne."

Looking away from the dogs, and at the woman who had walked over and started talking to me, I noticed she had leather armor and a kind smile. She appeared to be the owner of the other dog, whose name was Cheyenne.

"Hi, I'm Hope and that's Dogmeat. Um, do you know where I could rent a room for the night or buy food?"

"Say no more, talk to Trudy, she runs the bar. She's the town mom and would want to meet you anyways. She's just around the corner."

I thanked her and went in search of the bar owner and came across a lady, who was probably mid 40s and fit the title 'town mom' perfectly.

She started talking before I could sit my whole ass down on the stool.

"If you're here to start trouble get out now I don't need anymore asses making a mess of my bar."

She must have seen the look of surprise and innocence on my face, being showcased perfectly with my eyes wide and mouth slightly open. Her face softened and she smiled at me.

"Sorry, there was a group of guys in here a few days ago and they trashed my bar, breaking my radio and breaking bottles, made a huge mess."

"Uh, I just wanted to know if I could rent a room..."

"Of course sweetie. That'll be 50 caps for the room, it's the one just behind the saloon. It's yours for as long as need it."

I thanked her, gave her the caps, took the key and quickly left out the back door. It was difficult to see but I found the room, it was more of a empty house with two beds and a dresser so I chose a bed, flopped in it and slept until the sun was in the sky.

I woke around nine, must have forgotten to set my alarm. Oh well, at least I woke up at an acceptable time for breakfast so off I went to the saloon. I changed into my civilian clothes, shorts, combat boots and a plaid shirt and tank top before I left because I don't want my first impression on the citizens of this town to be one of me in wrinkly flight jumpsuit.

I opened the backdoor to the saloon and found Trudy cleaning the bar with a rag and she looked up when I sat on a bar stool across from her.

"Oh you startled me, I didn't hear you come in" I muttered an apology, I was infamous in the vault because of that. Ever since I was a child I was really good at sneaking behind people and scaring them. "Well anyway, good morning. How was the room? Did you sleep well?"

"Like a rock. Do you have any thing I could eat for breakfast?"

"One order of sugar bombs coming up." She bent down behind the bar and grabbed a package and a bowl and placed them in front of me. I gave her the caps and started eating my cereal. Interrupted only by Dogmeats whine, signaling his hunger. Trudy must have noticed too because she grabbed another bowl and put some dog food in it. I was getting more caps out when she stopped me.

"Don't worry about it. It's Cheyenne's food and I don't think Sunny'll mind."

I thanked her again and finished up my cereal. I really didn't know where to start on my quest to find the Brotherhood so I decided to stick around this town for a few days or so to gather information and help out. After years of experience I've learned that people are more willing to talk if your help them first, or if your words drip with honey.

"Does anyone need any help around town? I'm sticking around for a bit and might as well make myself useful." I added a small, innocent smile at the end, it was the same smile I've used since a child to hide lying about my motives.

Trudy looked at me like I had a mutated head growing out of my shoulder. "Well that's awfully kind of you dearie, I think Karen down the road might need help farming, her son just left to join the NCR." Right the NCR, they were the enemies that I was informed about.

"What can you tell me about the NCR?"

"The New California Republic's got the most power in Nevada. Money, troops, you name it. They do what they can to keep things safe in the region, but if you ask me, they're trying to do too much. They're spread too thin."

It was clear she didn't know much more than I did and we continued a conversation, mostly just me asking questions about the area and wildlife and her providing some answers. They weren't the best answers, it was clear she didn't leave town often.

After a few minutes more of that I look my leave, passing Sunny on the way out, and went looking for the farmer to help. I haven't done much farming but I'll try my best. I saw a lady hunched over a row of plants and walked over to offer help. She accepted most gratefully and showed me what to do. While we worked I asked her questions about the NCR and Legion, her answers were not helpful but were better than nothing. Together we made short work of her crops and she offered me an early lunch, which I gratefully accepted.

It was around 11:45am when I left, I asked her if there was anywhere I could bye medical supplies around town and she pointed me to the house on the hill. She said a man named Doc Mitchell was their doctor. I was going to buy some bandages and stimpacks for my traveling. In my hurry to grab all the weapons I could carry from Megaton I completely forgot to grab them and after talking to Trudy about the wildlife I figured i was going to need them.

I knocked on the door and after a few minutes of no answer, I told Dogmeat to stay outside and I walked in. I walked further into the dimly lit house and turned right into a big room that looked like a makeshift medical bay, where there was an old man sitting on a chair and a very handsome and very shirtless man, who looked young but seasoned, sitting on a bed. The old man, presumably Doc Mitchell, turned and looked at me.

"Sorry, I knocked and didn't know if you heard so I sorta walked in, I'm sorry. I can wait outside until your done." I was proud of myself. I only sounded slightly embarrassed and not super embarrassed like I felt, and I don't think they could have seen the rising red blush on my cheeks in the dim light.

"No, it's alright. Why don't cha sit in the living room while I finished up in 'ere."

His calm tone made me calm down and I walked the rest of the way into his house and sat in a chair beside the bookshelf. I found myself a really old book called "Sea Wolf" by Jack London and started reading while I waited.

A few minutes later Mitchell and the other man walked in and sat on the couch and the chair opposite it. The man had a shirt on now and loose fitting sweatpants. Now that there was more light I could see his face better and my first thought was more than correct. He had brown eyes, a tan that was from the Mojave sun, freckles spotting his nose and cheeks, dark hair that curled around his temples and his face had only a faint 5 o'clock shadow that emphasized his square chin. Over all he was hot. The T-shirt he wore showed off his biceps that were muscular and tanned. I almost didn't hear the Doc talking to me while I ogled the man, who I just realize was looking at me the same way I as looking at him.

"-just gonna finish up with Six here and then I'll help ya"

I nodded and quickly looked back at the book but it was a lousy distraction because when I heard the man talk I pulled my eyes up to look at him again. Man, this is not good. I'm acting like a star struck schoolgirl and I need to pull myself together. I focused my attention back on the book until they both got up and walked towards the door. I heard them talking and Michelle gave him a large bag of stuff, then the man went into the bathroom and changed. After the front door opened and closed, Mitchell came back in and sat beside me in his chair.

"So, whaddaya need?"


	3. New Friends

I left Doc Mitchell's over 45 minutes later. After getting a few stims and first aid items, we had a nice talk and he asked where I was coming from and I think I surprised him when I said a vault in Washington D.C.

He had said he came from Vault 22 on the strip and we talked about vault life then he asked me why I left, and so I told him the whole story. He was quite chatty and by the time I finished my story about the purifier, I could almost see the lightbulb flash on in his head.

"You're the Lone Wanderer ain't cha?" I winced at that

"That's what they call me. That or 'that crazy kid from Vault 101' . I didn't expect people to know of me this far west. And I was hoping they wouldn't, could you please not tell anyone until I understand the politics a bit better? I don't want to be dragged into anything or targeted by anyone" the Doc thought for a moment then gave a sympathetic nod.

"Your secrets safe with me. Stories spread fast 'round here and it don't matter how far away from here they started. Traders brought some special water and a story about a girl from a vault from somewhere out east. I reckoned that was your doing eh?"

We continued a nice chat about my adventures until I bid him farewell and promised to visit at some point in the next few days. Neither Dogmeat nor I had drank anything since our early lunch and I didn't want to bother Doc Mitchell anymore than I already had. And I left Dogmeat outside the whole time, he was probably melting in the sun, hopefully he went somewhere shady while he waited.

As soon as I stepped outside the wave of heat hit me like a super mutant swinging a club. I looked around for Dogmeat and found him laying in the shadow of the decks railing, panting and staring at me.

"Sorry about that. Lets go get a drink from Trudy."

We went in the Prospector Saloon expecting to see Cheyenne and Sunny but much to Dogmeats dismay, they weren't in here. I walked over to where Trudy was cleaning off one of the tables and helped her clean some dishes. I asked for some water for Dogmeat and was getting the caps out when she stopped me and said,

"Oh don't worry about it. It's on the house."

While Dogmeat was drinking, I asked if it was ok if I use one of the booths to clean my guns and armor. She replied that as long as I cleaned up after myself I could host a party in here. I quickly ran to my room and grabbed my bags and went back to where Dogmeat was still drinking and smiled at the mess he was making.

I sat at one of the smaller booths, not wanting to take up more space then I needed, and set up shop. I put a cloth down and got out my weapon repair kit, that I put my cleaning supplies into and got to work. Starting with Blackhawk, then the Perforator, then the Terrible Shotgun, then my Backwater Rifle, then lastly cleaning my Victory Rifle.

As I finished cleaning up the Victory rifle I heard Trudy curse at her radio and bang on the top of it. I remember her saying something about guys breaking her radio now. I got up and asked her if she wants me to take a look at her broken radio.

"Sure, the outside looks okay, but I think something broke on the inside. There'd be caps in it for you. I do like to hear what's going on in the world. And that Mr. New Vegas seems like such the gentleman."

I looked at her radio and popped open the back, finding the problem and fixing it in record time. While I was working a man in a makeshift blue riot gear chest piece came in and started yelling at Trudy. Trudy held her ground and I was just about to join in but while they were fighting, Six came in and watched for a second before scanning the rest of the bar before his eyes landed on me and I looked him up and down.

He had changed into a brown duster with a similar kind of riot gear chest armor as the guys yelling at Trudy, and jeans. He also had a few more weapons than he did last time I was him. He had a weathered 10mm pistol in a holster inside his coat and a machete on his left hip, a combat knife on his other thigh in a sheath, and a camouflaged assault rifle strapped onto his back with a strap that went across his chest. He also carried a duffle bag with what looked like more guns and supplies inside. I lifted my eyes and we made eye contact.

We held it until the man in blue stormed past him and pushed his shoulder. I snapped out of it and went to my seat to continue to work on the Victory Rifle. Trudy walked over a few moments later after talking to Six and handed me 75 bottle caps while thanking me for fixing her radio and offered to bring me some food. I looked at the time and I must have cleaned the shit out of my guns because I took 3 hours on them. Usually I'm traveling and I need to clean them fast just so they don't jam but when I have free time I will take my time and scrape every speck or dust off them.

After Trudy walked away to bring me some fresh gecko steak that Sunny and Six brought back from hunting, Six sat down across from me and started up a conversation.

"Hi. I'm... Six, so a few days ago I got shot in the head by a guy in a checkered suit and I need to know if you know anything about him?" He looked like he was almost begging for some information.

"I got into town last night. Sorry I don't know anything." He looked away looking slightly sadder after I said that but then he must have thought something because he looked back with what could only be hope in his eyes.

"Wait, you said you just got here, does that mean your a traveler?" I nodded and he continued, "Which way are you going?"

"Whichever way the wind takes me. Why?" I can't go around saying I'm looking for the Brotherhood, I don't know what kind of enemies they have.

"If we we're going the same way, maybe we could travel together? We can shoot more things with the two of us." He added a shy smile to the end of his offer. I considered for a moment then thought, 'why the hell not?' I smiled and held out a hand for him to shake, which he did so enthusiastically.

"You sir, have got yourself a deal. By the way, names Hope." He gave me a smile that made me melt inside, but I held strong and didn't show it. I noticed he had a Pipboy on, I'll have to ask him about it later.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Hope. I was planning on doing something about that Joe Cobb guy then leaving tomorrow morning. That okay with you?"

"That's fine by me. I'm guessing that if we do something about Cobb that It'll end up in a fight. I'll finish eating then go to my room and suit up. I'll meet you back here in around an hour." He nodded and called Trudy over and got a Gecko steak from her like I did. As we ate he asked about my guns and I tried to respond honestly but vague enough keep my identity a secret.

"Where'd you learn to shoot?"

"My dad taught me the starters then I learned the rest on my own or from anyone that would teach me. It wasn't hard to learn, you shoot, you miss, you see where it hit and try again. Where'd you learn?" His eyes clouded over and his hand went to the scar on his temple before he answered.

"I- I don't know, I don't remember. I can't remember anything from before the... incident." He winced when his fingers brushed the scar. I felt bad for the man, to forget everything, sure there are somethings I wish I could forget, like all the nights in the Pitt and in Maryland, but I couldn't imagine forgetting everything. I was about to break the awkward silence but Six beat me to it. "Have you ever... forgotten something important or feel like you've lost a piece of yourself?"

I wasn't planning on telling anyone, especially not a stranger, about what happened in Maryland, but I felt bad for him and he seemed so lost, I had to let him know he's not alone.

"Actually, yes. I- a couple of years ago when I was traveling, I helped a woman find her daughter and that led to a tribe that preformed lobotomies on their members. I wasn't planning on getting one but they drugged me and took a small part of my brain out," I lifted my hair to wear the crude scar was to show him. "Then they sent me on a wild spirit walking quest, I had vivid hallucinations and... I saw things I wish I could forget." I lost concentration as I remembered the skeleton of my mother and the giant Schmault-Tec bubbleheads. "Anyways, I found the chunk of my brain later, in a jar in the cupboard aboard the ferry I took to the blasted place." I took a sip of my nuke cola, "I keep that jar on top of my infirmary in my house."

As I concluded my story I looked up at Six and noticed his eyes were wide and his mouth slightly agape. Maybe I shouldn't have sprouted that story within the first hour of knowing him, it's one of the worse ones. Might scare him off.

"Um, I wasn't expecting... That. Wow." By then we had both finished eating and I had checked my clock. 'What the hell? It's 7:45 already? We won't have much time to solve this towns problem tonight.'

I voiced my concerns to Six and he agreed, we'd have to deal with Ringo and the Powder Gangers tomorrow, that was something that would take a few hours, and it was going to get dark soon so we wouldn't have enough time to deal with the Gangers. We decided that we'd do some small jobs and make some caps before we retire for the night.

Sunny walked over to our table after we finished talking and looked between the two of us before giving a small, knowing smile.

I grabbed my bags and called Dogmeat to follow me to the door. I felt Six's eyes on me as I left but ignored him. When I got to my room I threw my bags onto the bed and started getting ready for a fight, putting on my armor and holstering Blackhawk and the Terrible Shotgun. I wouldn't need much else. I grabbed my armors overcoat then, putting the first aid kit from Mitchell in one of the bags on my belt, I left to meet up with Six.


	4. Battle of Goodsprings

(Six's PoV)

I went outside, after Hope left and I talked with Trudy about the Powder Gangers, and looked down the road towards Primm. I was thinking about leaving tomorrow morning, but maybe it would be better to leave tonight after we deal with Ringo's friends, don't want to overstay my welcome or anything.

I'll have to talk to my new travel companion about it, from the scars along her cheek and the look in her eyes I could tell she'd been places. Not to mention the armory she was cleaning just a few minutes ago. Her arrangement of weapons was fairly intimidating, and I knew for a fact that if she wanted me dead, she'd have no problem doing it.

I rubbed the scar on my forehead trying to remember anything I could from before the attack but still, I came up blank. Only white flashes with some outlines if I focused hard enough and the odd sound of a voice, but it is a distant and incomprehensible voice. Maybe my memories will come back over time.

"Well, I might as well talk to a few more people before Hope comes back." Wait did I say that out loud? Huh, I didn't mean too, maybe it's from the bullet wound. Oh well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I made my way over to the general store and met the shopkeeper, Chet. He's an asshole but there's nowhere else that would buy the shit I grabbed from the docs house. I tried to ask him about the guy in the checkered coat but he too, knew nothing. It's becoming a pattern in this town.

I left with over 100 more caps then I went in with so at least it's something. I wouldn't have used that laser pistol or its ammo, nor all that junk I grabbed. The Doc won't need that crappy 9mm sub machine gun either, I got it working but it's still a shot away from exploding, (I didn't tell Chet that though) that'll be a surprise for him.

Hope walked into a house behind Trudy's saloon, so I'll mosey over there to see what's taking her so long. We need to talk about wher- Ooh a repair station and an ammo station! I'll have to find her in a bit.

********(30 mins later)*********

"And this will make the grip fit better! Ha! take that you asshole Chet, tryin to make me spend 90 caps on a grip mod." I grumbled the last words, still upset over Chet's steep prices.

I wouldn't have noticed Hope standing about 10 feet to my right if she hadn't coughed to get my attention. I jumped and looked at her new outfit, and wow, I thought her guns were intimidating but this is a whole new level.

She had black plastic looking armor with a blue strip going vertical over her left breast and over her shoulder, only broken by the yellow '101' surrounded by a yellow circle above her heart. The legs had pouches around the belt for holding her ammo and stimpacks, it looked like a type of power armor that was only 2 inches thick around her stomach and elbows but slightly bulkier around the wrists, shoulders, and chest. Not like the Brotherhoods foot thick armor.

She had her hair in a messy bun and her pistol at her hip, a shotgun on her back and her dog at her heels. She came prepared with small, dark brown hooded poncho she could put over top of her armor. Right now it was rolled up over one shoulder, but she put it on before I was done ogling her.

"Well? Are you just going to stand there and drool or are we going to save this town?" I blinked and moved my eyes back to her face.

"Where'd you get that armor? It looks so... New.." She shifted her weight and bit her lip after I said that, weird.

"Long story. I'll tell you later, let's go find Ringo."

We went into the gas station and Ringo nearly lost his life as soon as we entered because he drew his gun on Hope, but he put his gun down pretty fast when he got a closer look at the two warriors and canine in front of him, it really urged him on when I said,

"If you plan on shooting us, you better not miss." and slowly put my hand on my own gun. It was going to be easy to intimidate people with a 5'7 arsenal and her dog beside me.

Ringo told us all he knew about the Gangers and what we should do, gather a militia to fight back, which in theory sounds easy but in practice, it will probably be harder to convince the peaceful townsfolk to pick up guns and kill.

We set off to the Prospector Saloon to find Sunny Smiles and recruit her. As we walked, Hope's dog, who I learned was named Dogmeat (who names their dog Dogmeat? That just seems weird) ran ahead to sniff Cheyenne, who just walked out of the saloon with Sunny.

Sunny agreed immediately and we split up to recruit the towns folk. Hope went to Trudy and Chet and i went back to the Doc. We met back at the Prospector Saloon with a makeshift militia and medical supplies. By the time we met up, the Powder Gangers had assembled on the road to the south.

"So how should we do this?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"I don't know, I just thought you'd know what to do. I just got shot in the head."

"Fair enough. Here's what we're going to do..." She gave a game plan to the townsfolk and they all scurried to their positions. "Six, I want you to yell 'Deathclaw' when I signal, okay?"

"Okay, I can do that. What's the signal?" She contemplated the question for a moment before answering.

"I'll just do a countdown from three, watch my hand." I nodded and went to stand beside the saloon by the side door.

She walked over to where Joe Cobb's gang stood and started talking to them. She took a military stance, with her hands behind her back, one inconspicuously on her gun and one in a fist. I could hear her talking to Joe about why he was attacking this town and she tried to peacefully persuade him to walk away, but he wasn't listening. I could see from here that his posse was beginning to get jumpy, anxious to shoot up this town. Hope started the count down on the hand that was in a fist by holding up three fingers.

3...

2...

1

"DEATHCLAW!" The anxious posse all whipped around to look at the road behind them. Hope took this moment to shoot Joe in the face from nearly point blank range then jumped to the side as the Gangers realized what happened.

The town immediately jumped into action, mowing down the shocked Powder Gangers and efficiently ending the threat before they fired a single bullet. The townsfolk cheered and all went into the Saloon to celebrate.

I walked over to where Hope had jumped from and saw her starting to search the bodies for anything useful. I searched Joe and found a stealth-boy in one of his pockets and a satchel full of dynamite. I stood up and started walking around the bodies.

"Damn, these guys pack a punch. You know, if you hadn't shot him directly in the face from six feet away he might have used this on us. Aren't we lucky."

"You survived getting shot in the head and you think killing a guy before he kills you is lucky?"

I shrugged, "I like to think I've moved past that whole 'shot in the brain and lost all my memories' thing." She looked up at me from the ginger she was looting with an unreadable expression.

"You woke up yesterday."

"Well, you got me there." Humor comes easily to me, i must have been a funny guy back in the day. I seem to subconsciously use humor ask a crutch so I don't have to talk about things that make me uncomfortable. I wonder when i developed that skill. Oh well, I'll deal with that at some point. "So, I was thinking we should head out now, while the sun is still up." She looked at the time on her Pip-Boy (note to self: ask about that) and nodded.

"I'll be ready to go in 15 minutes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thank you for reading my story. I'm open to ideas on where to go with this, I have most of it thought out but nothing is set in stone yet. 
> 
> Also, I reread this chapter and noticed a ton of spelling errors and awkward punctuation. I'm really sorry about that, I don't have a beta for this story and I wrote the first four chapters on an iPad last year. The next chapters will be written better and edited.
> 
> Lastly, this fic is on hiatus until further notice. I'm focusing on my Dragon Age fic and will not come back to this for a long time I imagine. (Dragon Age fic is on my profile if any of you guys are interested.)
> 
>  
> 
> Because i cant attach links here, I'll just write down who my characters are based off and you can google them if you want.
> 
> Six- Bob Morley (from The 100)
> 
> Hope- Sam (from Until Dawn)
> 
> Hope's Armour- Commander Shepard's Armour (from Mass Effect 3)


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